Connie Marie Bean, age 81, of Jefferson City, Mo., passed away Tuesday, December 10, 2019 at home surrounded by her family.
Connie was born on September 7, 1938 in Bloomfield, the daughter of Paul Bland and Margriete Katherine (Baker) Cox. She was married on September 6, 1956 in Dexter to Willard L. Bean, who survives.
Connie grew up in Dexter, Mo. and was a 1956 graduate of Dexter High School.
Shortly after graduation, she married Willard, and began her role as a supportive military wife. She moved with him to quite a few locations until, in 1968, they made Jefferson City their permanent home. She took great pride in his service that spanned over 40 years until his retirement as a Colonel from the Missouri Army National Guard. However, her greatest accomplishment was being a mother and later a grandmother; always supporting and encouraging her children in all aspects of their lives.
Connie was a devoted housewife all her life. When her children were younger, she owned a beauty salon in Dexter. After moving to Jefferson City, she volunteered as a Girl Scout Leader at West School. One of her favorite mottos was, “Be Prepared”. Connie enjoyed working with cosmetics in a few downtown retail stores and also worked as a Financial Secretary at the First Christian Church.
Connie was creative and channeled that energy different ways. She enjoyed oil painting, working with ceramics, and sewing. She especially enjoyed visiting Branson and the Fall Craft Festival. Connie was very talented and enjoyed designing and decorating five beautiful homes with her husband Willard. She also took pride in designing the landscape and personally planting everything with Willard.
Survivors include: her husband of 63 years, Willard Bean; two children, Douglas Bean (Vera DeGiorgio) of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Terri Riley (Carey) of Jefferson City; one brother, Ronald Cox, Sr. of Branson; five grandchildren, Ryan Riley, Amanda Riley, Kyle Riley (Gemma), Jennifer Klimala (Frank) and Nicholas Bean; a great-granddaughter, Ava Klimala; and another great-granddaughter that will be joining her family in May of 2020.
Connie was preceded in death by her parents.
Visitation will be held at Freeman Mortuary from noon until 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 17, 2019 with her funeral service following at 1:30 p.m. in the Freeman Chapel with Celebrant Gara Loskill officiating. Graveside services and entombment will be held at the Mausoleum of Hawthorn Memorial Gardens.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Shriners Hospitals for Children.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Freeman Mortuary.
Albert C. Lowes, a legend of the legal community of Southeast Missouri, died peacefully on December 9, 2019 of complication after a fall. He was 87 years of age.
Albert could only be described as one of a kind. He was hard-charging, hard-working and cigar smoking. He peppered his speech with unique expressions and colourful language. He was also honest, loyal and an aggressive advocate for his clients and his community.
Albert was born on December 1, 1932 to Guy E. Lowes and Lillian Tuschhoff Lowes on a farm near Oak Ridge, Missouri. His early years were marked by the tough economic times of the Great Depression. He fondly recalled that his father would shoot squirrels early in the morning to provide his family with breakfast. He graduated from Perryville High School in 1950. He joined the US Marine Corps almost immediately after his graduation.
Albert would later describe his time in the Marine Corps as one of the two seminal influences of his life. The Marines sent him to Korea in 1952, as the secretary for two two-star generals. During his time as a Marine, he handled court martials and top-secret dispatches as well as various other responsibilities. He often joked that his most hazardous assignment was waking the general in the middle of the night whenever events dictated it. Albert was very proud of the fact that he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant after only 35 months in the Marines. He was discharged from the Marines in 1954 with a passion to pursue a legal career.
Albert attended Southeast Missouri State Teachers College, as it was then known, and graduated from law school of the University of Missouri-Columbia in early 1959, less than 5 years after he started his university education.
It was during his time at Mizzou that Albert experienced the other seminal event in his life. He met Peggy Rae Watson, an energetic and determined journalism student. He was able to convince Peggy to relocate to Southeast Missouri and to become his wife. They were married on August 27, 1960. Their union lasted until her death on September 2, 2016.
Upon his graduation from law school, Albert joined the law firm of Robert M. Buerkle. The two remained associated professionally for nearly 25 years. In 1984, Albert decided to form the partnership of Lowes & Drusch with Walter S. (“Sam”) Drusch. This partnership lasted 31 years until both men retired in 2015.
Albert considered himself to be a trial lawyer and he was very proud of it. Most lawyers and judges of his era can tell many an amusing story about Al in the courtroom or with one of his clients. His expressions were legendary. Some family favorites include: “born tired” (lazy); “choir practice” (time at a bar); “dead soldiers” (empty beer bottles); and “drunk box” (breathalyzer for measuring blood-alcohol levels). During his legal career, Albert tried more than 400 jury trials, and with assistance of other attorneys, he handled more than 150 appeals.
Albert participated in a number of civic and community activities. He was a member of the Missouri Bar, the Cape Girardeau County Bar, the Eighth Circuit Bar and the Federal District Bar. He was active in many Masonic orders, including Excelsior Lodge #441 in Jackson and the 32nd Degree Royal Arch Masons in Cape Girardeau. He was also a member of the Cape Council, the Cape Commandery, the Knights Templar, the Moolah Shriners of St. Louis and the Scottish Rite Valley of the Orient in St. Louis. He was a lifetime member of the VFW in Cape Girardeau and the American Legion in Jackson. Albert was charter member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Cape Girardeau.
Albert took great pride in his family. Albert and Peggy were blessed with, and often challenged by, their three children: Danita Rae Lowes, Albert Charles Lowes II and Kurt Brandon Lowes. All three obtained both bachelor and graduate degrees. Danita is a long-term resident of Sydney, Australia. Albert lives in Oklahoma City and Kurt resides in Chicago. Their children blessed them with 4 grandchildren, 2 step-grandchildren and 1 step-great grandchild. Danita is the mother to Hayden, Blake and Zara Fite as well as stepmother to Nicole Bennett-Fite. Albert and his wife, Susan Starkey Lowes, are the parents of Ashley Whiting and grandparents of Bastion Whiting. Kurt and his wife, Crystal Kennedy Lowes, are the parents of Ascher Lowes.
In addition to his children and grandchildren, Albert is survived by his siblings (Guy Lowes, Jean Paden and Mary Lowes) and a sister-in-law (Jeanne Lowes). He is preceded in death by his parents and his beloved wife. Albert is now at peace with his “best buddy”.
Visitation will be from 4pm to 8pm on Monday, December 16, 2019 at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The funeral will be held at 10am on Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Funeral Home with Rev. David Roth officiating. Entombment will be at the Memorial Park Mausoleum in Cape Girardeau.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the Children's Hospital of Michigan. They can be reached via www.chmfoundation.org/donate-now/ or (313)993-8815 or Children's Hospital of Michigan Foundation, 3901 Beaubien-Mailslot 257, Detroit MI 48201. Alternatively, memorials can be directed to the VFW in Cape Girardeau via their website https://www.vfwpost3838.org/donate
Mary Blankinship of Parma, daughter of the late Arthur and Myrtle Gillbreath Neal, was born in Parma, Missouri on October 11, 1931, and passed away at the Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center in Poplar Bluff on December 8, 2019, at the age of 88 years, 1 month and 27 days.
She had lived in Parma all of her life, had worked as a CNA, Med Tech and in In Home Care until the age of 82. She was a member of the Eastern Star and the Church of Christ faith.
On March 14, 1960, she married Ulysses Solomon "Blanky" Blankinship in Piggott, Arkansas. He preceded her in death on July 2, 1990.
Surviving are one daughter and husband, Sharon & Roy Duncan of Malden; one son and wife, Ulysses "Boy", Jr. & Kim Blankinship of Malden; fourteen grandchildren, Louisa, Louis, Aquita, Stefan, Mandy, Quinten, Kastenny, Hilary, Ryan, Aaron, Joshua, Brandon, Drew and Jessica; fourteen great grandchildren, Quianna, Samone, Jeniyah, Nevaeh, Camille, Morgan, Jacob, Tristan, Annabell, Lorelei, David, Aidan, Asher and Olivia; five great great grandchildren, Ronell, Raniyah, Rahmad, Nolen and Daniel; one sister, Donna June Ates of Florissant. Other relatives and friends also survive. She was preceded in death by one son, Lowell Shelby; five brothers, Carl, Riley, Raymond, Harry and Charles Eugene Neal, and two sisters, Louise Gilbreath and Violet Ward.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, December 11, 2019, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Parma.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, December 12, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. at the Watkins & Sons Chapel in Parma with Bro. Rufus Williamson of Parma officiating.
Interment will follow in the Mounds Park Cemetery in New Madrid, Missouri with Watkins & Sons Funeral Service of Parma in charge of arrangements.
John Keith Johnson, son of Hazel Sorrells Johnson of Georgia and the late Billy Johnson, was born on May 12, 1963 in Dallas, Georgia and departed this life on December 9, 2019 at his residence in Dexter, Missouri at the age of 56 years.
Mr. Johnson worked in maintenance for a trailer park.
On November 12, 2011, in Dexter, Missouri, he was united in marriage to Sally McGahee. Mrs. Johnson survives of their home in Dexter.
In addition to his wife and mother, he is survived by three daughters, Lanita Stewart of Georgia, Karina Collins of Dexter, Missouri, and Marissa Pilgrim of Dexter, Missouri; by his son, Stefan Pilgrim of Dexter, Missouri; by two brothers, Billy Johnson of Georgia and Ronnie Johnson of Pennsylvania; and by eight grandchildren.
Rainey-Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter is in charge of all arrangements.
John M. Capps, son of the late John Marvin Capps and Glenda Stark Capps, was born on November 29, 1956 in Poplar Bluff, MO and departed this life on August 20, 2019 at his home in Houston, Texas at the age of 62 years.
John spent his early life in Dexter, MO. He was a 1975 graduate of Dexter High School and received a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Missouri-Rolla (Missouri S&T). John retired after a long career with Marathon Oil.
John is survived by his son, John Marvin Capps II of Houston, TX; three sisters, Kristie Gibson and husband John of Tulsa, OK, Cathy Miller of Houston, TX and Carla Hunt of St. Peters, MO; three nieces, Katie Gibson of Houston, TX, Sarah Jane Hunt of St. Louis, MO and Becca McDaniel and husband Jimmie of Overland, MO; one great-niece, Hazel McDaniel of Overland, MO; and by numerous other family members and friends.
